eBay will soon launch an AdWord-esque ad program for affiliates that will dynamically generate relevant eBay auctions on your web site, even if your content changes regurlarly (like blogs).
Here is the FAQ from eBay:
Q: What is eBay AdContext?
A: eBay AdContext is our new contextual ad tool. It will scan the content of a Web site and automatically return relevant eBay ad content. For example, a Web site about sports could use eBay AdContext to display ads for sporting goods listings or eBay search results for memorabilia related to a specific sports team. When a user clicks on the eBay ad, they are led directly to the eBay site (either to the listing, the category, or the search results page).
Q: How does it work?
A: eBay AdContext was developed using eBay's keyword selection technology, which uses proprietary eBay data to match contextual eBay ads to the Web page. The contextual ads take into account the popularity of certain keywords on eBay, not just the keywords on a given Web site, making them relevant to what people are actually shopping for on eBay.
Q: How do I use it?
A: Placing eBay AdContext on your website is easy - simply create your ad using our setup flow, and then copy the Javascript code into your Web page. eBay AdContext will then crawl your Web site and display contextual eBay content The ad content will update automatically as the content on your page changes.
Q: How is this different from what has been offered to eBay Affiliates in the past?
A: The eBay Affiliate Program currently offers an editor kit that allows Web publishers to create their own selection of eBay ads on their Web pages, by manually entering specific keywords and categories as search terms in order to return listings. eBay AdContext automates this process by reading the content of the Web site - which may change daily - and surfacing ads that are most relevant to that content.
Q: Why is eBay AdContext a beta?
A: This is a new product for us, so we want to have Affiliates try it out and let us know how they like it. This gives us an opportunity to get feedback and make improvements before releasing the final product.
Q: Can anyone sign up for the beta?
A: You must be an eBay Affiliate to sign up - those interested in becoming eBay Affiliate can sign up at www.affiliates.ebay.com. (Registration is free) eBay Affiliates interested in trying out the beta can send an email to adcontext@ebay.com. We will review all requests and invite a group of Affiliates to try out the beta. We'd like to get a good cross section of Affiliates to try it out.
Q: When will the product go live?
A: At this time we haven't announced a launch date. Stay tuned to the eBay Affiliates Program Web site for more information. www.affiliates.ebay.com
Q: How do I become an Affiliate?
A: Those interested in becoming an eBay Affiliate can sign up at www.affiliates.ebay.com.
Registration is free.
Q: What about the API?
A: There is a new API call which returns ranked eBay keywords and categories for a specified Web page. This enables developers to create applications that may be different from traditional contextual ad serving. This API call is also in beta, to apply to take part please email your application idea to getcontextualkeywords@ebay.com.
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